f_desilva Reviews

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

Worth seeing for Fonda

[7/10 · 22 May 2001]

Plotwise this is a rather silly little whodunnit masquerading as a period drama/biopic.

However the only reason I wanted to see it in the first place was because I was curious about what the great Henry Fonda was really like at his peak. I wasn't disappointed - he produces a truly warm and charismatic performance.

In addition I can honestly say that I was never really bored at any stage during the film, so a strong ***1/2 Out of *****

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

One of my favourite Hitchcock movies

[10/10 · 17 February 2001]

I know that this film is not considered to be one of Hitchcock's great works, but it will always hold a special place in my memory as it was the first of his movies that I ever saw.

Since then I have seen some of his more acclaimed movies such as 'Psycho', 'Rear Window', 'North By Northwest' and 'Notorious'. Although I admired those films a great deal, for me this 50's remake of 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' still embodies the reasons why he is known as the 'Master of Suspense'. So many of his classic touches are there and although they were perhaps done better in other films, this was my first exposure to his genius.

Perhaps this isn't VINTAGE Hitchcock, but it certainly is TYPICAL Hitchcock.

Many other IMDB users seem to prefer the original 1934 version to this one. While I don't doubt that the older version is a fine movie, I doubt that I will enjoy it unless it's released on DVD. The video casseste picture and sound quality on other Hitchcock movies I've seen from that era have often degraded to such an extent that viewing the films often becomes a chore rather then a pleasure. Anyone else have that problem as well?